Mayor says Weymouth has enough water for SouthField

Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay now says the town has enough water to supply a fully built out SouthField, offering a potential solution to one of the major stumbling blocks for a project that appears to be faltering. But the proposal is likely to prove controversial.

WEYMOUTH – Mayor Susan Kay now says the town has enough water to supply a fully built-out SouthField, offering a potential solution to one of the major stumbling blocks for a project that appears to be faltering.

Kay made the announcement at Tuesday's town council meeting during a discussion of the controversial proposal by SouthField master developer Starwood Land Ventures to revamp the project.

But she said her proposal was unrelated and that the timing was based on completion of an analysis that found the town has enough water for all 2,855 homes and apartments and at least 900,000 square feet of commercial space planned for SouthField.

"It took years to come to this conclusion," Kay said. "It's a bold move, but certainly one I believe would be to the advantage of Weymouth."

Kay said the entire project, when finished, would require an estimated 700,000 gallons of water per day, which is within the town's roughly 900,000 gallons per day of excess capacity. Earlier estimates put SouthField's water needs at 1.2 million gallons per day, but Kay said those numbers are out of date.

The mayor said the revenue from supplying the water to SouthField would allow the town to reduce residents' water rates. She also said the developers would have to agree to upgrade the water system and pay a connection fee to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority for an emergency backup hookup in North Weymouth.

Whether the town's sewer system could handle the extra flow from the project is unclear.

The mayor's proposal is likely to be controversial. She has faced criticism from residents for an existing agreement to supply water to a small fraction of the development that has already been built.

But several councilors were intrigued by the idea.

"It's a huge opportunity for us to at least consider," Councilor Thomas Lacey said.

SouthField is on the former site of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which includes land in Weymouth, Rockland and Abington.

Starwood wants the state Legislature to approve sweeping changes that would strip power from SouthField's quasi-governmental overseer, Tri-Town Development Corp., and shift tax-revenue responsibility for public services to the towns. Starwood had proposed hooking up to the MWRA water system to get more water.

Starwood spokesman William Ryan said getting water from Weymouth is a "very attractive" option that is worth discussing.